After many months in the planning, our first #SummerOfCode took place at the Curzon Cinema in Clevedon last week. My early self-doubt quickly evaporated as we filled every one of the 100 free places, and the whole thing far exceeded my expectations.

A procession of children (agree between 7 and 13) turned up with their tablets and laptops at 9:45 each morning – ready for two hours of story-making and app-building with JavaScript. Some children had already been exposed to some coding at their respective schools – but the majority were newbies.

One of my objectives was to enthuse children to want to learn to code, and have fun at the same time. This is exactly what happened. Just look at what the children said:

“I like coding because I made three new friends, it’s fun and educational. I also like the teachers” – James O

“I like coding because it teaches me how to make my own games” – Ariel

“I like coding because it is fun, and the possibilities are endless, providing me with hours of fun” – Ben

“I like coding because I always wanted to make my own game” – Josh

Some great feedback from parents, too…

“This was excellent! Children have developed a huge interest – spent several hours at home on scratch after the workshop, has opened up a whole new world!”

“We thought this was brilliant, fun, very worthwhile”

“James really enjoyed the workshop and has learnt a lot in just a couple of hours. Thanks a lot for such a good educational morning. Such fun”

A big thanks to our sponsor, Sparkol. They didn’t hesitate to back us up, so we could provide the sessions for free. The Curzon were perfect hosts and we are already plotting more events for the children of North Somerset in the future.

We will be back!